An interdisciplinary study of the reciprocal influences between demonological works and society in medieval and early modern Europe.

2024 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K13090
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 02040:European literature-related
• Research Institution: Ehime University
• Principal Investigator: Tajima Atsushi 愛媛大学, 法文学部, 准教授 (40802765)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-04-01 – 2025-03-31
• Keywords: 魔女 / 悪魔学 / 聖人 / 聖母 / 巡礼

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study demonstrates the potential of works written on the basis of demonology, a comprehensive body of knowledge about devil, demons, witches, and witchcraft that has traditionally been the subject of historical studies, as a new object of literary study. Specifically, I will focus on "The Hammer of Witches" (first published in 1486), the most important work in demonology, which is said to have intensified the persecution of witches, and analyze it using critical literary theory as well as empirical historical methods, focusing on its "author" and his mutual influence with the society of the time, thus bringing demonology research into both the fields of literature and history.This is an attempt to position demonology as an interdisciplinary field that belongs to both literature and history, and to bridge the two fields through a methodology that straddles literature and history.

Free Research Field

ヨーロッパ文学関連

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

研究計画に基づき公表された成果、とりわけ最終年度に出版された『魔女を糾す―中・近世ドイツの法実践と悪魔学―』（森と出版、2025年）では、『魔女への鉄槌』に限らず、他のいくつもの悪魔学作品が実際の魔女裁判に際して、いかなる影響を与えていたのかを、魔女裁判関連史料、とりわけ法鑑定書の分析に基づき実証的に論じている。魔女に関して鑑定活動と法学というレベルに注力した研究はこれまでにないもので、裁判という社会的営みと悪魔学作品との直接的影響関係について論じている世界初の試みである。